This invention relates in general to dishes for cooking, serving and storing food or the like. More particularly this invention relates to a dish with a rim having a cam ledge that cooperates with a cover to allow controlled venting of the interior dish as well as cooking in either a vented or unvented condition.
Dishes used for baking and other cooking applications typically are equipped with a cover so that the foodstuffs within the dish can be covered while being cooked. Covered cooking helps retain heat and moisture within the dish and may otherwise aid the cooking process. Even if covered cooking is not desired the cover can be used while serving to help keep the contents of the dish warm. The term "dish" is used in a general sense to mean ovenware such as a casserole dish suitable for use in an oven such as a microwave oven or a conventional oven. The term "dish" would also include a cooking utensil intended for use on a range-top cooking element.
For some applications it would be advantageous to provide for cooking in either vented or unvented condition. Some recipes call for a combination of both. In microwave cooking especially, it is often necessary to cook for relatively short periods of time and then either remove the dish from the microwave oven to stir the contents or rotate the dish within the oven cavity and cook at a different power level. In addition it may be necessary to cook for a period of time with the dish in a vented condition and then cook for a period of time with the dish in an unvented condition. In such situations it is necessary to safely vent steam or vapor which may have accumulated in the interior of the dish during a cooking cycle. It should also be noted that both conventional and microwave ovens are positioned as high as eye level or as low as under a range top, making some venting arrangements more or less desirable from a use standpoint.
For example, some venting arrangements require that the top surface of the cover be visible because the vent is generally horizontally positioned. This can be a disadvantage if the oven is located at eye level. Other arrangements include a generally vertically positioned vent formed in the downwardly extending rim of a cover or the upwardly extending rim of a dish. Often this type of vent includes notches which must be aligned to cook in a vented or unvented condition. Such notches are considered by some to be less than desirable from a visual standpoint and also present some disadvantages from a utility standpoint. For example, the dish may be turned during a cooking cycle so that the vent is not visible.